52 portraits

Artikkelbilde

BIT Teatergarasjen har i mange år vært støttespiller og co-produsent for Jonathan Burrows og Matteo Fargion. Flesteparten av forestillingene deres har blitt presentert for bergenspublikummet. I 2016 gjennomfører de kunstprosjektet 52 portraits i samarbeid med Sadler’s Wells i London.

28. januar 2016
Av Andreas Langenes

52 portraits er et onlineprosjekt av koreografen Jonathan Burrows, komponisten Matteo Fargion og videokunstner Hugo Glendinning, hvor det slippes et visuelt og gestisk portrett av ulike kunstnere hver mandag i 2016. Ta en titt på dette fantastisk fine prosjektet.

Registrer deg på www.52portraits.co.uk og få et nytt portrett i innboksen hver mandag.

Jonathan Burrows om prosjektet

The idea of 52 Portraits came from me trying to think of a way for Matteo and I to make a larger piece, in this case a year long piece, but without changing how we work. So the portraits remain on a human scale, and build on our idea of performance as being a meeting between spectator and performer, mediated in this case by the brilliant camera work of Hugo Glendinning, who has collaborated on this from the start. So the person watching is probably sat at a table looking at a laptop, and the performer in the video is seated opposite. And I like the idea of engaging with and challenging the way we use video clips on social media.

As far as who we invite is concerned it should be people whose work we love, and who have some strong link to the London scene in all its manifestations. And our choices should honour younger artists who some people maybe don't know yet, as well as older artists. And Matteo and his daughter Francesca will sing their biographies and thoughts, verbatim, to a tune of their choice. Two things that have come out of this interview process so far, are how resonant it is to hear why people dance, and how reassuring it is to hear stories that contradict the usual image of the dancer as a special angelic being. And each portrait is a postcard or a haiku of that person, free of the usual overload of information.

Of course if I really followed my heart, I would film so many people the piece would be five years long. But we follow our noses and see who's around and go forwards with whatever happens, and whoever gets filmed or doesn't get filmed, nevertheless the project is in a sense what Matteo calls 'an epic love song to an art form'.